By partnering with a food hub, a school district can significantly increase its local food purchases. This publication provides information from a pilot program used to grow farm to school purchases in northeast Iowa. The scope, design and implementation of the project are all covered in detail.

A research project conducted in 2014-15 tested the benefits of a partnership between area school districts and the Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative's (FFI) Iowa Food Hub - a non-profit food aggregator and distributor. This publication provides information on the project and discusses challenges faced and opportunities available in providing fresh, local foods to Iowa schools.

Home food preservation isn't difficult, but it does require following specific directions exactly. Find out about Extension's Preserve the Taste of Summer program, including resources, online lessons, and hands-on workshops throughout the state of Iowa.

Following safe practices while operating a farmers market booth is critical to the success of your business. This infographic provides best practices to follow to keep your products safe at the farmers market.

This publication provides growers with information to use high tunnels effectively, enhance productivity and increase income. Construction and management of high tunnels is included, as well as information on crops that can be grown.

Research shows that a nutritious diet helps children learn better, and that kids are more likely to try and enjoy fresh vegetables and fruits if they helped grow them. School garden programs provide a unique opportunity for students to grow fresh vegetables, eat healthy food, and share their harvest with the rest of their school district by donating or selling it to the school cafeteria. To assure the food safety of the vegetables harvested from school gardens by students, schools should implement food safety protocols for their school garden activities.

This publication contains sample protocols for schools to use as they design best practices for their school gardens. These protocols are adapted from federal and state guidelines for Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Handling Practices (GHP).

The purpose of this PDF guide (LF-0015A) is to explore how food hubs can use their own financial data to identify and address the strengths and challenges in their operation. Relying on data that most food hubs already have available in their financial records, we show how financial metrics can be used by managers to identify problems and risks and make decisions.

The accompanying Excel spreadsheet (LF-0015B) provides an additional tool to calculate and interpret key metrics from a food hub's operation.

In Iowa, more than 20 regional entities employ individuals as local food coordinators who promote the sale and purchase of locally grown food, provide regional capacity-building in local food systems and help build local food value chains. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach has begun a project to better understand the needs and challenges of local food coordinators, and to develop a program to better support both the coordinators and their supervisors. This report summarizes the project findings and outlines future plans for supporting local food coordinators across Iowa.

Farm-to-school programs around the country have wrestled with the challenge of sourcing local meat. To explore this question, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, in partnership with the Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative and Iowa Food Hub, sought to build a meat-to-school program in northeast Iowa. This series of three publications provides highlights of the project's successes and challenges, on the topics of sourcing products, working with pork producers, and working with beef producers.

This publication series tells the story of the meat-to-school journey in northeast Iowa and what was learned along the way.

Farm-to-school programs around the country have wrestled with the challenge of sourcing local meat. To explore this question, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, in partnership with the Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative and Iowa Food Hub, sought to build a meat-to-school program in northeast Iowa. This series of three publications provides highlights of the project's successes and challenges, on the topics of sourcing products, working with pork producers, and working with beef producers. In this publication, Iowa Food Hub reviews their search of a system that could source pork at a price point acceptable to schools.

In 2014, they decided to test out an unlikely solution: the procurement and processing of "off-matrix" hogs.

Farm-to-school programs around the country have wrestled with the challenge of sourcing local meat. To explore this question, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, in partnership with the Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative and Iowa Food Hub, sought to build a meat-to-school program in northeast Iowa. This series of three publications provides highlights of the project's successes and challenges, on the topics of sourcing products, working with pork producers, and working with beef producers.

In this publication, learn about the beef-to-school pilot project used successfully in other states: sourcing cull cows for farm-to-school beef.

Determining Factors for Local Food System Success analyzes the characteristics of factors that enable and hinder local food systems development within communities. Based on in-depth case studies of six of the most successful local food systems in the US, researchers present proven tactics for success in each of seven factors, or "community capitals." By using this guidebook, local food systems developers can identify resources and mitigate challenges in their own communities.

Asparagus is a hardy perennial of the lily family. The plant originated in the coastal regions of Europe and Asia but is now grown throughout the world. It is one of the first vegetable crops to be available in the early spring, along with leafy greens. Once established, a well-cared for asparagus field can remain productive for 15 to 20 years.

There has been interest in growing grapes in the upper Midwest and other cold climate regions of North America. One of the problems growers face in these regions is selecting cultivars (cultivated varieties) that will withstand severe winters, mature in short growing seasons, and be productive. As grape acreage increases in cold climate regions, too often cultivar selections are being made based upon testimonial or anecdotal information. With the high costs of vineyard establishment there is an increasing need for a standard reference to assist growers in selecting best adapted cultivars. This publication can be viewed via a PDF reader and by using the bookmark function, you will be introduced to 74 varieties.

Cafeteria coaching is a cafeteria-based program that uses middle school and high school students along with school nutrition staff and cafeteria staff to encourage kids to try new foods and eat nutritious school meals. This toolkit will guide users to set up cafeteria coaching programs at local schools.

Where and how food is grown or produced is of interest to consumers and retail foodservices; sustainable food production is a key part of this interest. The Guide to Sustainable Food Procurement addresses food purchases that have positive social, environmental, and economic outcomes. Organized into five sections, the Guide provides an overview about food purchasing and segments focused on four food commodities: fresh shell eggs, dairy, fresh produce, and meats. Each segment presents science-based background information about conventional and alternative production practices addressing food safety, environmental impact, social concerns, nutrition, animal welfare, and/or quality characteristics.

Building strong coalitions and partnerships are essential to the success of an organization. A series of four publications by the Iowa State Extension and Outreach Local Foods team introduces the importance of coalitions and how evaluating those partnerships can be helpful. The series looks at how to develop coalitions, what to do when coalitions have been established and how to evaluate a mature coalition.

Each publication includes questions to ask to evaluate the health of the partnership at each stage of the relationship.

Quickbooks™ is the software most commonly used by food aggregators and distributors, yet many struggle to maximize its features to benefit their operations.

Based on an actual Iowa food hub, this tutorial takes a step by step approach, guiding users to expand their use of QuickBooks to improve product traceability, accounting, basic inventory management and recordkeeping. Using QuickBooks in combination with Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets and a few other low cost tools can provide an effective, low cost solution for data management.

Individuals and groups rising up to meet the demand for local foods can gain practical help and insight for setting up their own local foods group, or gain ideas to improve the operation of their current organization. Starting off in the right direction by defining your organization, identifying core values, a mission and strategic plans is the first step in this series. Finding champions and developing a coalition of others who are a natural fit to support your efforts is outlined, along with helpful ideas for organizing managers and employees. Resources and practical helps in this publication will help take your idea from concept to reality.

Part Two of this toolkit series raises key questions to consider while forming your business or organization. Descriptions of nonprofit, for-profit and cooperative models will help you determine which legal structure is most suitable for your organization. A checklist for forming a new business or organization in Iowa is included. Resources and practical helps in this publication will help take your idea from concept to reality.

Part Three of this toolkit series lays out methods of funding a local foods organization. A variety of revenue sources are outlined, each depending on the legal structure of your organization. Discussed in this publication: in-kind gifts, membership campaigns and fees, merchandise sales, events, sponsorships, crowdfunding, grants, investors and loans. Information on organizations that are tax deductible is included. Budgets and fundraising are emphasized. Resources and practical helps in this publication will help take your idea from concept to reality.

People interested in hosting a farmer training program (incubator or other) will find the resources in this publication useful to teach a Beginning Farmer Training program. The curriculum in this manual is divided into three parts: production practices, post-harvest handling, and business planning/basic finances. Each module is organized by learning objectives and includes narrative, hands-on activities, and links to worksheets and additional resources.

Strip-tillage is when a crop is planted into narrow, tilled strips and the non-tilled area between the strips might contain residue from the previous season's main crop or a living or dead cover crop.

Combining strip-tillage and cover crops offers various benefits including minimal soil erosion, maintains soil moisture and weed suppression. This publication provides basic information on using a strip-tillage system with rolled cover crops as a conservation best management practice in vegetable production systems such broccoli, peppers, pumpkins, squash and tomatoes.

The Agricultural Urbanism Toolkit Booklet is a resource for communities to learn about Agricultural Urbanism and the tactics used to develop local food systems. It can be used as a full book or portions can be downloaded for specific tactics. In the booklet you will find an overview of Agricultural Urbanism as a design strategy as well as a brief synopsis of the Community Design Lab’s Agricultural Urbanism Toolkit design process and its role in local food system development.

The following pages provide an overview of 19 tactics from small to large scale implementation of local food system opportunities; these include gardening to urban farming to food hubs. Each tactic describes the goal, community benefits, and community outcomes; it reveals best management practices nationally as well as local practices from communities that have partnered in the Agricultural Urbanism Toolkit design process.

For food hubs, or businesses that aggregate and distribute local food, limited funds can be a barrier to growth. If food hub managers pay close attention to cash flow, however, they can grow their business using the income generated by the business itself, and reduce the need for grants or loans in the start-up phase.

This publication explains the idea of cash flow and how food hub managers can use it to their advantage, drawing on the real-world experiences of Iowa Food Hub.

Supporting Local Food System Development in Your Community provides local government officials, community activists, and others with seven steps to help organize and promote the development of a local food system in your community.

Local Food Coordinators support the development of local food systems by bringing participants together and increasing community awareness through educational and promotional marketing. This publication provides resources to groups and organizations who are developing a local foods coordinator position, complete with a position description.

This publication is for growers looking for information about the best post-harvest sanitizing practices for fresh fruits and vegetables. It includes a comprehensive chart of five commonly used liquid sanitizers.

Donations from local fruit and vegetable growers are important to food pantries. This publication provides information to growers about safe on-farm food practices and information to food pantry workers about how to keep donated produce safe.

Figure high tunnel profitability for vegetable production with the systems and budgets described in this publication. The information is based on the detailed production records of five farmers growing crops such as bell peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, herbs, lettuce, and tomatoes.

A jar of home preserved meat is a delicious and convenient way to start a quick and easy meal. Canning meat, poultry, wild game, and fish must be done correctly to assure that food is safe to eat. Find guidelines and recipes to follow to achieve the best product.

Farmers who want to sell their fresh produce will benefit from this checklist. It defines action steps to help protect their product, details to discuss with potential buyers, and suggestions for promoting their farm.

Buying fruits and vegetables from local growers assures fresh product and helps the local economy. This publication provides insights needed to ensure the safety of food served, offers three action steps, and lists many additional resources.

This enterprise budgeting tool can help vegetable growers estimate the costs and revenue associated with producing a product. Growers with multiple enterprises can use total sales as the basis for estimating the cost of planting, growing, harvesting, and handling key crops with a series of worksheets.

Harvesting vegetables at the right stage of maturity results in nutritious, high quality products. Consumers can capture the peak flavors of asparagus, Brussels sprouts, melons, garlic, rhubarb, squash, tomatoes, sweet corn, and many other vegetables. This publication provides detailed information for storing more than 30 types of garden vegetables, including recommended storage temperatures, relative humidity, storage life for fresh vegetables, suggested methods for extended preservation, and types of storage facilities.